Storing the boat

Ok. Putting up the boat for the winter. 2020 Alumacraft Competitor Sport. Evinrude 175 etec g2. Winterized the motor, fuel is full and stabilized, oil is full. All ropes, towels, rags, pfds are out and stored. The boat is in our detached garage.

Now a few questions. I was going to leave the three batteries in. I really have nowhere indoors to store them. I was hoping that plugging in the charger periodically would be ok.

Hatches, open or closed?

Cover, on or off?

Mice. Mmmm. Used to store my old Smoker Craft in my father in laws barn. Never found a way to totally prevent mice from getting in the boat. How do they get in??? This garage is pretty tight, but those buggers are sneaky. I’ve tried moth balls, dryer sheets. any ideas?

I have been lucky to so far with my many years of storing in a barn, no mice issues.

So, cover on, dryer sheets in all compartments and closed, batteries left in but main power turned off. Everything removed otherwise. Fuel removed ( just my preference )

Good Luck

Paulski

If the boat is in a garage with concrete floors that’s kept pretty clean, I’d definitely store it with the cover off. Mine sits in an attached insulated (but not heated) garage that’s kept very clean with the cover off. It only really freezes in there during January and February during the coldest spells and if we aren’t out there moving vehicles or running heaters while working. The only reason I would cover a boat in your instance would be if it is in a shed with a lot of dust or is dirty, potential larger critters, etc. Although we may see a mouse or two a year in our garage, we’ve never had issues. I think having the cover off is key because it makes it that much more likely that I will climb up in it and check things out periodically. A cover is in no way going to slow down a mouse.

In regards to moth balls, dryer sheets, etc. I think the biggest key is having a clean boat. I wipe out everything with some fairly harsh smelling disinfectant cleaners. My boat is glass and the compartments are each separately molded. If you were to open one right now the smell of cleaner would be intense. I take out every life jacket, throwable, tackle box, etc. so any rogue mouse would have nothing to gain by being in there. My rod storage compartment in the center is open as my battery tray is beneath it. I can see the lights on my onboard charger without climbing in the boat to be sure they are charging. I plug them in for a few days whenever I remember (maybe once or twice a month).

I used to have a hobby farm and stored a dozen boats in 2 unheated sheds. The only times that people had mice in their boat was if they either had food, something that had once contained food or something that resembled food in the boat. One time it was a zip lock bag of dog food left in a storage compartment, another time it was a bag full of Subway bags someone saved to pick up after their dog and one guy had picked up a bunch of Gulp baits on clearance and just threw the bag in the boat when he stored it. There was multi colored plastic mouse poop all over his carpeting. buckybadger has it right. Clean the boat and keep the floor and the rest of the area around the boat clean.

I’m leaving my batteries in this winter and plugged in on the maintainers in my boat. There was a nice thread on here a while back and taking the batteries out was optional according to some.
Mine sits in a carport under a roof. Usually I fill it full of gas but I’m not convinced it matters the least bit so half full this time and top it off with fresh fuel next spring.
It was a sad day Saturday as I put my boat away but in another month, I hope to walk on some water!

I had a mouse problem few years ago. They, or it chewed wires and even chewed a gas line some. It cost me 200.00 plus at the outboard shop.

1st of every month I charge my batteries overnight using onboard charger. Knock on wood, many years with zero issues.

Mice? Yup, like what’s been said, don’t give them a reason to be attracted. Clean your interior like the day it left the assembly line and you won’t have mice.

Good luck

I also remove rear straps to keep the little buggers from crawling up them to get in the boat.

Mouse traps in boat and around it. Just to be safe

When I stored boats I had 2 guys that wanted to access their boats one weekend. One was installing some new electronics and the other had just heard about dryer sheets repelling mice and wanted to put a bunch in his boat. The guy with the dryer sheets asked the other owner if he did anything to keep mice out of his boat. The guy with the electronics in a dead serious voice said “I always throw an open peanut butter jar in the boat next to mine and I’ve never had a mouse in my boat”

I store my boat in my father in laws barn. I take everything out except tool box and anchors. I even take the ropes out. There have been a few times I’ve had mice but not a lot of damage, dropings and stuff. I used put the cover on and left the strings hanging. I think they climbed up the strings into the boat. I now don’t leave the strings hanging and the last couple yrs I have used ” Cab Fresh”
I haven’t had a mice since doing those two things.
cab fresh

Charge batteries full and disconnect anything with a load.A good battery with a full charge will be fine for a few months.Set traps around areas where they could have access.Bait them with PB or pepperoni.That way you know if there are mice around.They simply can’t resist PB or pepperoni.

Once you get a mouse in the trap you’ll find out if there are any shrews. Whenever a mouse gets left too long in a trap at my cabin shed I find nothing but the inaccessible head from the ears forward left under the trap jaws.
This fall they were even chewing into bags of grouse guts left overnight. I always liked shrews but may have to find a way to trim them down a bit. Any suggestions?

I talked to 2 different boat dealers that said if you have a modern battery charger with trickle, to leave them plugged in all winter. They said it extends life of the batteries. I’m at 4 years and counting, we’ll see…

In addition to some of the above tips, I put Irish Spring bar soap in my boats and camper. Many winterize their campers this way, and avoid the harsh mothball smell in the spring.
I buy the bulk package, and put one in each compartment; just slit the top of the soap box open exposing the bar, but providing a “tray” to keep the bare soap bar off my surfaces.

Clean your boat well, as stated. Add some dryer sheets for extra effect if you like. If you’re periodically charging your batteries through the winter, you can peek in and keep an eye on things as well, and have the chance to take more drastic measures if needed.

suzuki wrote:

Once you get a mouse in the trap you’ll find out if there are any shrews. Whenever a mouse gets left too long in a trap at my cabin shed I find nothing but the inaccessible head from the ears forward left under the trap jaws.
This fall they were even chewing into bags of grouse guts left overnight. I always liked shrews but may have to find a way to trim them down a bit. Any suggestions?

X2 I caretake at our local school forest, the lodge and building(including my personal dwelling) have been overrun with mice this year but, more recently something has been eating the mice in the traps-this your shrews Suzuki?
To avoid high jacking Davids post, you can DM me if you have ideas/solutions…
Thanks!